The Divide
by Winged Lady Colette
Summary: There is two worlds out there, the demon world and the human one. A Priestess with an old power lost to man is capable of opening a bridge between the worlds. Three mercenary brothers are asked by the temple's guard to protect the Priestess on her journey to the Cloud village. All parties have a nasty secret. Five lives collide and horrors of the past have familiar faces. AU
1. The Job

There was three of them, all sitting at one table. Their heads bowed and their voices low. They never said much to anyone but each other. But they would look around, eyeing the other patrons in the tavern but never struck up conversation or kept their eyes shifting for too long. They knew better. They were hunters, but they were also being hunted. Not many knew them by name, but merely by exploits. A name whispered on many lips yet a true name not to their own. Not the names that they bore as children, and certainly not the names that they call to one another.

There were two brothers.

The eldest one, with hair long and with the touch of silk, ran down his back. Darker then any black the night could offer. Confined by a thin red ribbon. His eyes were an endless black and his face was soft. Lines on either side of his nose, a sign of age and a stress filled life. His voice is smooth and soft, like the most finest and richest of wines. Low and alluring. An intellect unrivaled by any other he has come across.

The younger one, with short hair, a navy blue that is left untamed. Eyes the same endless black but with a more stern face, contrast to his brother's sharper features, his offer much more youth, giving him a more boyish look. His face smooth and umblemished, but cold and unwavering. His voice low and stern and with a reflection of perminent annoyance. There was also great intellect there, but also great physical strength where the elder brother lacked in.

The last was an orphaned boy.

He was the same age as the younger brother but the youngest of the three. His hair a stark contrast to theirs; bright sunshine blond with tanned skin and eyes bluer than the sky. Whiskers on his face and the Heaven Seal on his stomach. He is bulkier then the two brothers but as almost as tall as the younger, both a bit taller than the elder, with a very boyish face. Not the most intelligent person in the world but he holds great power, even beyond the two brothers.

No one really knew much about them, only that they were mercenaries for higher, and they only took jobs that either interested them or furthered their goals. No one knew what those goals were, though.

The reason they were in this shit village and not out on the road as they had become accustom too, was because they were approached by a messanger beseaching their assistance.

In a nearby temple, there was a young priestess that was in need of protection across the country all the way to the Cloud village. The head guard of the temple stressed that the priestess was being hunted and would not make it to the village without aid. He would have escorted her himself but found that he was unable to leave the temple itself unprotected, but he say that he was willing to pay handsomely to them should they accept and complete the mission.

Usually that wouldn't appeal to the trio, that was small fry things in comparison to what they would do more regularly. But the messenger made it very clear to them that the priestess was able to use power that had only existed in the royal family. The same family that was massacred about a century before. The entire family, their servants and guards too, all murdered and their estate was burned to the ground. No one knew exactly what happened, but there was no shortage of speculations on the matter.

"Are we sure this isn't some trap?" the younger brother asks.

"No, but it's not something that I want to pass up, Sasuke," the elder brother says.

Sasuke shrugs. "I'm not questioning you, Itachi, it's just a general question."

"Yeah, why does this interest you so much, Itachi?" the last boy asks.

Itachi turns his dark eyes to the blond haired young man's. "I want to see if this priestess has some special Old Power, Naruto. Only the royal family possessed such abilities."

Naruto tilts his head to the left a little. "Does that mean this girl is a descendent?"

Sasuke jerks his head toward Naruto, reaching out to smack him upside the hide. "Shush," he hisses. Then, ignoring Naruto's whine of pain, turns his older brother. "Could she? An illegitimate child maybe? Or someone who survived the massacre?"

Itachi smiles faintly at Naruto's whining, quietly soothing him into silence with a soft, "You're okay, Naruto." Then to Sasuke, "Perhaps. We shouldn't write it off just yet, but there is always the chance that contrary to popular belief, others outside of the royal family are capable of using the abilities, it was just never taught."

Sasuke shakes his head, ignoring Naruto's glare directed at him. "I guess that makes sense."

Itachi raises a delicate eyebrow. "Does it? You seem skeptical."

A smirk peaks onto Sasuke's face. "Not about your theories. Just that people wouldn't speculate as deeply as you. I certainly don't."

"And that's why you're the dumber brother," Naruto mumbles. Sasuke glares at him.

Itachi's eyes flicker up to the door when a man walks in. His hair is messy and gray, a cloth around his nose and mouth and an eye patch on his left eye, leaving his remaining black eye. Even though it's half lidded, the right eye is alert and observant. A sword strapped to his side. He hones in on them immediately, making his way through the small tavern to get to them.

"Are you the Three Brothers?"

Itachi nods for him to sit in the open chair between Naruto and Sasuke. The man obeys, observing each of them with a sever lack of outward interest, but that doesn't fool them. He's alert and is imprinting everything about them to his memory. A trait of a good warrior. He is definitely older then them. Older then Itachi by at least three or four years. The hair is extremely misleading considering when he gets closer and speaks, you can hear the young and see it in his posture.

"You want us to escort your Priestess to the Cloud Village?" Sasuke asks, breaking the ice right away.

The man nods. "Yes, my name is Kakashi. I am the head guard at the temple. Normally, I would be the one to escort the Priestess should she have ever needed to leave, but bandits recently been coming to this town and attacking the livestock and temple. I have to stay and protect it. That's why I cannot go. So in my stead. I need the best."

"So you contacted us?" Itachi says, head tilted.

Kakashi nods. "Because we have a common enemy."

The three mercenaries freeze. All their eyes wide.

"_He _is tracking her?" Sasuke asks. Kakashi nods.

Naruto shakes his head, astounded. "Why?"

"Her power," Kakashi says softly. "She is capable of performing the miracles of the royal family."

All three young mercenaries share grim looks and nods of affirmation. Naruto turns to the white haired man and says, "take us to her."

Kakashi nods, standing up and heading out with the three young men following after him. He leads them out of town a bit and up the obnoxiously long stair way up to the temple. It looks remotely fancy compared to the town below. It is clearly well taken care of. There is a woman standing at the top of the stairs. She is far shorter then all of them with long blond hair and sandy brown eyes. And she was far better endowed then most women.

"Is this the young men you were referring to, Kakashi?" the woman asks, arms crossing over her chest. She is dressed in long poofy black pants and a large white shirt that looks a bit stretched around the chest.

Kakashi bows at the waist. "Yes, Lady Tsunade." He turns to the three men following him. "This is Lady Tsunade, she is the elder of the village below. She also comes up to oversee the temple from time to time."

Tsunade gives them a hard look, looking them over.

Itachi bows respectfully. "My lady, forgive me, but you look awfully young for an elder."

Tsunade tuts. "Looks are deceiving, young man. I'm almost sixty years old."

Itachi and Sasuke gape, taking in her appearence. She looks like she could be half that age. Tsunade shrugs her shoulders and starts to turn around.

"Healthy living," Sasuke says in awe.

"Holy shit!" Naruto yells, shaking his head. "You're ancient!"

Tsunade pauses, mid turn. She looks over at him and glares. "Listen here, you little shit, learn some respect or I'll beat you bloody. You dig?"

Kakashi shakes his head. "I wouldn't mess with her if I was you."

Naruto sputters a laugh. "What could you do about it?"

Kakashi grimaces. "I seriously wished that you hadn't of done that."

With that, Tsunade took the three steps down to a laughing Naruto, pulled her arm back and punched him in the face so hard he went flying off the mountain that the temple is perched on.

Sasuke turns around, watching Naruto fly away, eyes and mouth wide. Itachi, in just as much awe, turns to look at Tsunade with a mixture of amazement and horror. He bows again and says a breathless apology. Tsunade hurrumps and turns away, heading back up the stairs.

"Please, my lady, they are our guests," Kakashi says with mirth.

Tsunade shrugs. "Little brat should learn some manners and besides if he is one of the people meant to protect my girls, then they should be able to hand a simple punch from an old woman like me."

"True," Kakashi says, "but still." Kakashi waves for the remaining two to follow him. "I'm terribly sorry about that. Lady Tsunade is a very... physical person."

Itachi laughs softly. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, Naruto is a very stupid person," Sasuke says. "Besides, it'll take a lot more then a punch to the jaw and a fifty meter drop to do any serious damage. He'll be back. Probably wont be a happy camper when he does, but who really cares about that anyway?"

"Is that how you treat all of your friends?" a woman asks. The small group stops to see a young pink haired woman walking out of the temple toward them. Dressed in a traditional red floral kimono with a green obi that makes her own green eyes pop. Her hair is long is pulled back on either side with hair pins, her long bangs cover her forehead.

Sasuke blinks slowly. "What? You mean me?"

She nods. "Of course. If that is how you treat your friends, how am I to know that you would treat me any better?"

"And you are?"

"Sasuke!" Itachi hisses.

The pink haired girl steps up in front of Sasuke, looking up at him. "I am the priestess of this temple. You can call me, Sakura." She smiles, revealing two straight rows of pearly white teeth. With that, she turns and walks over to Kakashi. Sasuke scoffs and looks away. Itachi smiles sympathetically at his little brother."Are you sure you can't accompany me, Kakashi?"

Kakashi bows. "My deepest apologies, Lady Sakura, but I must stay here and ensure the protection of the people and the temple. If I could get away, I would. But I found some good replacements. Don't worry, Hinata will be with you the entire time. You'll be fine."

Sakura nods, turning to Itachi and Sasuke. "And the two of you are?"

"Itachi."

"Sasuke."

Sakura looks between them amused, then pauses, looking around. "Isn't there suppose to be three brothers?"

Sasuke nods, "The dumbass got himself punched off the mountain by your village elder."

Sakura's smile falters. She looks at Sasuke intently, trying to see if he's telling the truth or not. When she decided that he was, she turned to Tsunade. "My lady!" Tsunade crinkles her nose, snorting.

"And good ridence too."

Sakura shakes her head and looks out toward the village. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine," Itachi says. "He's built tough."

"Sakura, go and get ready, you will be leaving soon. You two," Tsunade says strictly. "Follow me. We have to talk through the arrangements."

Sakura nods and turns to walk back into the temple. Hinata, her handmaiden, is in there waiting for her. She's gently touching the prayer beads hanging over the alter. The deity statue on the alter was of a multi-eyed, ten armed creature.

Sakura takes a moment to look at her young handmaiden. She is shorter then Sakura with pale lavender eyes and long purple hair. There are over a dozen little braids in her hair with beads at the ends. She is in a similar kimono to Sakura except the kimono itself is blue and the obi is white. Her head is bowed and her eyes are staring blankly at the alter.

"They seem nice," Hinata says softly, eyes sliding to the side.

Sakura nods, closing the sliding door behind her. "I don't sense any ill will, but they are still unknowns. There is something dark and mysterious about them. A lot of death follows them."

Hinata turns around to look at the pink haired girl, eyebrows pulled together in concern. "Are you afraid that they will be more toxic than anything else?"

Sakura shakes her head, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "I don't know. They are killers. No matter the rime or reason. Blood dirties their hands and their souls. I don't think they are evil though. But as we both know, that could all change without warning."

Hinata nods. "We will be okay."

Sakura nods as well. "Yeah, we will. We just have to get to the Cloud village. There Ay and Killer Bee will be able to protect the secrets of the royal family." Sakura reaches up and touches her forehead, brow furrowing in pain.

Hinata is up and by Sakura's side. "Please, lay down for a bit. I'll make sure everything is packed and ready for departure."

The pink haired priestess puts her arms around the shorter girl, hugging her close. "You have always been by my side. Thank you, Hinata."

Hinata hugs her back equally as tight. "Of course, Lady Sakura. I would do anything for you. Never forget that."

Sakura smiles and pulls away, making her way deeper into the temple to her room. She crawls into bed and pulls the heavy blanket over herself. Sakura closes her eyes. It's been about half a year since Sakura became the target for this group of shady people.

_Sakura bows her head slowly, whispering ancient words of prayer to her deity. The Juubi. The altar stands as a protective barrier between the two worlds. The world of the demons and the world of the humans. Sakura understood enough about the two worlds to know that they shouldn't be mixed together in any way, shape or form. It was bad enough that some of the demons had managed to slip into the human world._

_Sakura even read a few books about some of the different types of demons. _

_Demons of Sin: those that represent one of the seven deadly sins. _

_Tailed Demons: demons with different multiples of tails that represent their powers. The more tails they have, the stronger they are._

_Pact Demons: demons that sneak into the human world to make pacts or deals with humans for power. They get stronger with every successful pact._

_And so many others. But those were the ones that had the most done on them in the temple's library. Lady Tsunade made sure that Sakura read up on all of the different demons that she could. It's almost like Lady Tsunade perceived that this was what was going to happen. So every night, Sakura prays to the altar of her deity: Juubi, and recites the demon types and how to kill them. Sakura herself has never seen a demon, let alone kill one, but she has seen lots of pictures and has often sent her handmaidens and temple guards out into towns to buy new books about demons._

_"Priestess?"_

_Sakura turns to see a man in a cloak behind her. She stands and looks at him curiously._

_"Yes, I am the Priestess of this temple. Service is over for tonight, is there something that you need from us?" She asks._

_Pulling down the cloak to reveal a dark haired man with a mask covering most of his face. He shakes his head. "No, Priestess, just you." His hand moves so quick. Sakura feels a burn of pain on her cheek, she reaches up and touches blood, eyes widening in horror._

_Deft hands pluck up her kimono and runs to the door. The man beats her to it, grabbing hold of her arm and throwing her back toward the altar. Sakura glares up at the man with fiery green eyes. _

_"Leave here at once!" Sakura growls, climbing to her feet._

_The man shakes his head. "Sorry, Priestess. You need to come with me."_

_Sakura sneers. "A Priestess may not leave her temple against her will." She thrusts her hands out, muttering a breathless, "wind style: air burst." The shutters rumble and fly open, gusts of wind filtering into the room, shoving the man back against the wall. The thin door, shutter and then bust, the man flying through and out into the darkness of the night._

_He recovers quickly, faster then Sakura anticipated a small kunai knife in his hand. He swipes at Sakura's face, narrowly managing to avoid slicing her face open even more. Her back hits the floor and her leg flies out hitting him in the knee, making him crumble. He let's out a spring of curses._

_"Stupid bitch!" He jumps on top of Sakura, hands wrapping around her neck, squeezing tightly. Then he loosens his grip, cursing under his breath before pulling her head up and slamming her head down against the wooden floor. Sakura's head exploded in pain. Her vision blackens for a moment before returning covered in spots. The weight over her is forced off and the sound of a struggle._

_Sakura brings a hand up to her splitting forehead, squinting at the man rolling around with Kakashi. Her white haired knight grabs out his own kunai and stabs the man. Again and again and again until the man stops moving completely. Then one more time for good measure. He leaned over the man, checking to see if he was breathing before rushing over to Sakura's side._

_"Lady Sakura, are you okay?" he tenderly touches her forehead, helping her to her feet. "Come on, let's get you out of here. Hinata!"_

_The sound of footsteps racing down the hall toward them. The lily colored eyes widen at the sight of the devastation in the room. Then blinks rapidly, runs over to Sakura's side and helps her up and out of the room._

And in the months that follow their have been similar attempts at kidnapping Sakura. Some get a lot further than others, but reguardless they all seem to get to Sakura and it's getting to the point now where Kakashi and his men are unable to protect her alone. So they requested the assistance of the Cloud village. They agreed but internal strife makes them unable to come and get her themselves.

Thus the Three Brothers were called in.

Sakura opens her eyes right as Hinata opens the door to her room quietly. "Lady Sakura," Hinata says softly. "The details have been ironed out. The mercenaries have agreed to be your protection. We'll be leaving within the hour."

"Thank you, Hinata," Sakura says softly, rising up in bed. The door shuts behind her just as quietly as it was opened. "Now we will see if these men are truly who they claim to be."


	2. Departure

**Author's Note: Whoo, sorry for the late update. I've just finished up with finals and I'm kind of going through a story updating spree. And now it's time for this one. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

**Warnings: None.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.**

**Words: 2,433**

Sakura tilts her head slightly when she comes across the last brother and final member of her entourage. While she can easily believe the first two, Sasuke and Itachi, to be brothers, this one was starkly different. The only similarity between him and the two brothers is his all black clothing, cloak, boots, pants, tight sleeveless muscle shirt and gloves. That and the scowl on his face, directed at Lady Tsunade. Well, that's similar to the younger brother.

"Greetings," Sakura says regardless to the blond haired, blue eyed man.

He turns to look at her, and his scowl shifts and the most charming, friendly smile splits his face. He takes her offered hand, his skin darker from the sun and a believable natural tan then her own, and kisses the back.

"I'm Naruto."

Sakura smiles at his politeness. It was certainly courteous of him to treat her like that. She wanted to make sure he knew she appreciated it with a smile. "I'm Sakura, it's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto."

Sasuke rolls his eyes, turning to give Itachi a steady look. The older brother shrugs looking back to Lady Tsunade and Kakashi.

"Is there anything else you think we need to know before we head out?"

"No," Kakashi says. "I believe that's everything. Please, take good care of her. You must understand that she is very precious cargo and it's killing me not to be with her on this journey."

Itachi nods. "Priestess Sakura is safe in our care. We will get her to the Hidden Cloud village as soon as possible."

"Good, thank you."

Tsunade steps up to Sakura and takes her hands in hers, gripping them tightly. The older woman's knuckles whiten at the strain but Sakura doesn't flinch, seemingly used to this sort of treatment.

"Sakura," Tsunade says, her voice raspy. "I need you to promise me that when the time comes, you will do what is right. For the sake of this world. You must not let _him _get ahold of you, do you understand? He must never get the power you posses."

The pink haired priestess nods solemnly. "I understand. The power of the old family is mine to protect. Thank you for everything, my lady."

In a moment of affection, Tsunade holds the young girl tightly to her volupuous bossom. "Just know, Sakura, that I love you very much. I loved you from the moment I found you crying on the temple steps. And I will continue to love you until the end of time."

Sakura nods, rubbing her cheek roughly to rid herself of those pesky tears that built up in her eyes. "I love you too, Lady Tsunade. You mean an awful lot to me. I'll be back soon, okay?"

Tsunade crushes the thin pink haired girl in a tight embrace. She kisses the petal soft hair and then pulls away and turns. Briskly making her way back toward the temple, hiding the tears building up in her eyes.

"Oh, sorry," Sakura turns to the three brothers. "This is my handmaiden, Hinata. She will be accompanying me, um _us,_ on this journey."

Hinata bows, her long purple hair falling over her shoulders. "I would be honored to be able to accompany my lady on her journey, should it be permitted. It would be greatly appreciated." She straightens from her bow, lilac eyes shining in the sunlight.

"Welcome," Itachi says, politely.

"Whoa," Naruto says, looking down into Hinata's eyes. "You're eyes are weird."

Sasuke scoffs, glaring at Naruto. "Moron, she's probably a Hyuuga. Or at least somewhere in her family she has a Hyuuga ancestor."

Hinata lowers her eyes but says nothing, a far away look clouding her face. Sakura touches her shoulder and looks at the three boys. "Hinata is a loyal and faithful friend. She was left here a long time ago and has been living as my handmaiden for almost ten years."

Hinata smiles and touches Sakura's sleeve with just her fingertips. "Thank you, Lady Sakura."

Sasuke and Itachi both share similar looks. Itachi's eyes lower lightly in silent message. Sasuke nods minutely. Naruto twists his head around to look at them over his shoulder and shrugs.

"Should be fine," Naruto says.

Hinata nods. "Thank you, sirs."

"You know that you will not travel in luxury, my lady," Naruto says to Sakura, then as an after thought, to Hinata, "ladies."

"Of course. I've packed for such a journey. The only clothes that have anything truly fancy about them is the clothes that we were now," Hinata says, her voice light and airy.

Naruto stares at her for a moment before he takes a step forward and tilts his ear toward her and cups it with his hand. "Huh? Did you say something? I watched your lips move but I didn't hear anything."

Hianta's face colors in embarrassment. She roughly clears her throat, folding her hands neatly onto her lap and repeats herself. Her face is flushed red. "I've packed accordingly for our trip. The clothes we wear now are the most fancy of them all. We will change before we depart, sirs."

Naruto stares at her with big blue eyes. "I think I heard something that time."

Sasuke jabs Naruto in the gut. "Shut up, idiot. I heard her the first time. Your hearing is horrible." To that, Itachi makes a face of agreement.

"Let us change, then," Sakura turns to Hinata and the two depart back to Sakura's room.

Kakashi closes his one eye, praying to the Juubi for safe travels for all of them, but mostly Sakura. He has given fair warning to the three of the possible dangers on the road for her. He would give anything to take Sakura on this journey himself, but he couldn't. The town would fall if Kakashi and his men were not there to protect it and he swore to Lady Tsunade that he would defend it. But over the years, his loyalty has shifted slightly from the town to person.

And that person, being the young girl that would smile lightly at him from behind namesake trees, peddles swirling around her. The same girl that would mend his wounds all those few times he would get hurt defending the temple, town and her. The same girl that would bring out food and drink to her silent guard that would sit outside her chambers or prayer room. Ever the loyal protector.

When the girls return Hinata is dressed men's brown slacks, rolled up at the ankles and rolled down at the waist. Her boots are brown and sturdy and her long sleeved shirt is pristine and white. It is overly large on her small frame with a cut from the neckline down between her small breasts. Smooth, unblemished skin can be seen from beneath. The cut stops just three inches above her belly button. Her hair, still filled with braids and beads, is pulled up into a high ponytail with only her bangs across her forehead and two pin straight chunks an inch thick on each side remain down.

While Sakura's slacks, while still men's, is black and rolled up, much like Hinata's. Her boots are finer but just as sturdy and black. Her long sleeved shirt is also stark white with the neckline cut straight through the entire shirt severing it in half. Carved holes on both sides has a black ribbon laced through them, tying at the top by her clavicle. A strip of pale white flesh can be seen all the way to her waist to which the shirt tucks under the waistband of the pants. Her hair is an elaborate series of braids leading into one big one that goes down the center of her back leaving a fringe of hair around her face. A single piece of jewelry sits undisturbed between her tiny breasts, a hideous small statuette of the Juubi. All ten hands spread out, creating a circle around it's body like a fan.

All three boys look from one lady to the other. Back and forth, trying to absorb the sight unbashfully. Beneath those bulky, thick kimonos are thin, strong young women.

Kakashi clears his throat, uncomfortable. This is the most skin he has ever seen on his lady and it's not something he had hoped would become habit of her. She was a lady of standards after all. Hopefully such a style will not follow her when she returns to her duties here at the temple. Unfortunately, Kakashi hates to admit it but there would probably be a ton more people coming to the temple should she keep this dress code up. Many of her younger male worshipers come to see the pretty young priestess and her pretty handmaiden.

"Well," Sakura turns to her long time guardian and friend, unaware of the salivating boys beside her, "I guess this is goodbye for now."

Kakashi bows respectfully. "Yes, for now only. Until you return, my lady."

Sakura pulls him into a tight hug, whispering into his ear, "I'll miss you, Kakashi."

Just as quietly, he responds, "And I you, Lady Sakura."

"Take care of everything here."

"I will."

Sakura pulls away, turning away hastily, sure that if she waits a moment longer she will lock herself in her room and never leave. Similar to Tsunade, but going the opposite direction, Sakura makes her way down the long staircase in a hasty exit.

Naruto and Sasuke both look at Hinata for hopes of an explanation. The shortest of their little group of merry men smiles lightly. "They've spent an awful lot of time together. It shows, doesn't it?"

Without waiting for either of the two to answer, Hinata swiftly and gracefully follows after her. Itachi was the second to depart, careful to stay close to Sakura. He can hardly suspect that someone from the town would attack her, but the last thing they want is for her to get captured five minutes into their job. Sasuke and Naruto share looks of exasperation before following.

The lilac eyed girl stops long enough at the top of the stairs to pick up three small packs placed there neatly, carrying the weight as if it were nothing.

"I'm only going to say this once," Itachi says at Sakura's shoulder. The pink haired girl looks over at him curiously. "You must have one of us with you at all times. DO you understand that your life is in danger?"

Sakura raises an eyebrow at him. "My apologies, sir."

"Itachi."

"Pardon?"

"My name. I was born with it so people would have something to call me by. Please use it."

Sakura's expression turns thoughtful. She pauses walking and stares at the eldest of her new guard. He's taller then her and skinnier, but there was something there. She could sense something firy about him. But also something smooth, like water. Calming and protective. Fire and water? Complete polar opposites. All wrapped up in one single person.

Interesting.

Maybe there was a reason why these boys were considered the best. If the other two are anything like the elder of them. Which begs the question on where exactly these boys came from. And how they can protect her from someone like _him. _Sakura shutters at the thought of some man that she never met. She's seen glimpses of him in her dreams, dreams induced by the Juubi.

Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto catch up with them and the group begins moving in silence. The three brothers pull up their hoods, almost instinctual. After a slight pause, Hinata pulls two brown cloaks from one of her packs and she and Sakura don them. Sakura takes one of the packs from Hinata and slings it across one shoulder under the cloak.

"Lady Sakura, please, let me carry that," Hinata says, putting one of the two packs she carries over her shoulder too. The other held in her left hand.

"Hinata, I must insist that you not only let me carry my own pack, but also my own name. Much like Itachi, in the time that we have together it should be less formal," Sakura says, not even looking at her long time handmaiden and friend.

"Please, Lady-er... I mean, Sakura. I must _persist _that you allow me to carry that," Hinata says, chasing after Sakura with her shorter legs.

Sakura shakes her head. "No. I have to carry my own weight on this journey, don't I?"

"Yes," Sasuke says before Hinata can deny it. "The sooner you figure that out, the better."

Naruto glares at Sasuke, Itachi gives him a look that clearly says, "back off now" and the look Hinata gives is positively chilling. But it quickly disappears as she turns back to Sakura.

"If... if you insist on carrying one of the bags then... I insist that you allow me to carry it the moment you get tired. Please, Lady Sakura?"

Sakura nods, smiling at her friend and touches her shoulder lightly. "You have always been there for me, Hinata. Thank you for everything."

Hinata blushes, dipping her head down. She pulls up her hood, as if just trying to do something to busy her hands. Then, briskly and all business, she pulls up Sakura's hood too. The two girls are nestled safely in the center of a circle of boys. But even if Hinata didn't doubt Kakashi's ability to protect Lady Sakura from the dangers of the world. She certainly didn't trust these guys to. Kakashi was trained to protect, these boys are just hired mercenaries. _Boys _at that. Two are barely old enough to be away from their mothers, in Hinata's opinion.

Sakura seems comfortable, which worries Hinata more. She's too trusting. Even if her life is in danger, she's still too naive.

These boys may be here to make sure Sakura gets to the hidden Cloud village safely, but Hinata's here to make sure she's protected until she gets there.

Hinata bows her head and holds her hands neatly in front of her. Back straight and eyes half lidded. But even though her eyes were mostly closed, there was very little in the general vicinity that she didn't see. And with the hood covering the upper half of her face, no one could see the gentle pulsing of veins that lead to pretty lilac eyes.


End file.
